A worker uses a front loader to push debris and sand onto a mound near a damaged home as the cleanup process continues following superstorm Sandy on Tuesday. / Associated Press

Written by

Deborah Barfield Berry

Gannett Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — After touring areas damaged by Superstorm Sandy, Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo reversed his earlier position and said he now supports measures to aid victims of the storm.

“I was saddened to see the hard-hit portions of New Jersey and New York,’’ Palazzo said in a statement Tuesday after visiting the states that day. “I was reminded of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina ... Now is the time for the federal government to provide immediate relief to those affected by the storm. I am fully committed to providing the relief they so desperately need.’’

Palazzo was one of 67 Republicans who voted last week against legislation providing $9.7 billion to pay flood insurance claims related to Hurricane Sandy. He was the only member of the mostly Republican Mississippi delegation to vote against the measure.

Republican Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi had teamed with Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana to push for the aid in the Senate.

Palazzo said he voted against the legislation because the aid wasn’t offset by other spending cuts.

His opposition drew heated criticism from newspapers in Mississippi, New York and across the country, and made him the target of jokes by The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart.

“It was mind-blowing to all of us,’’ said Rickey Cole, chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, noting that the next hurricane is more likely to hit the Gulf Coast than the Northeast.

“Chances are, we’ll need help again before those folks need help again,’’ he said.

Cole said Palazzo was pandering to the Tea Party in his district.

“He thought it was an easy throwaway vote,’’ he said. “But his political instincts were so poor that I don’t think he had a clue about the backlash.’’

Palazzo’s own district was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The state has received billions in federal aid in the seven years since then. The Gulf Coast also suffered damage from other hurricanes, including Rita in 2005 and Isaac last year.

Tuesday’s tour of areas damaged by Sandy took Palazzo to Seaside Heights and Staten Island in New York.

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“Mississippians have been through much of what the Sandy victims are experiencing,’’ he said.

“Now they sent him on some goodwill trip to make up for this,’’ he said.

But Rep. Jon Runyan, R-N.J., said he welcomed Palazzo’s visit.

“It is important for members of Congress to understand the severity of the devastation caused by the storm and how much work there is to be done for a full recovery,’’ Runyan said in a statement.

He and other lawmakers from New York and New Jersey are lobbying for support of a second bill that includes $50.3 billion in assistance for Sandy victims. The House is scheduled to consider the measure Jan. 15.

Palazzo, who is an assistant House majority whip, said those lawmakers have his “unwavering commitment in advocating for the next round of assistance.’’

Palazzo, a new member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he also will push to reform the federal disaster relief program to make it more efficient. He hasn’t outlined specific reforms.

“The challenge for him is balancing disaster relief reform for his district with his conservative budget principles,’’ said Mark Wrighton, a political scientist at the University of Southern Mississippi.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia called Palazzo the “natural leader for disaster relief reform’’ in this Congress.

Wrighton said some might view Palazzo’s new position Tuesday “as ‘flip-flopping.’”

“I’m not so sure that it’s flip-flopping,’’ he said. “I think when he cast his vote he wasn’t doing it with malice. Members of Congress are occasionally pressured by their policy preference on votes such as those for disaster relief.’’

But, he added, “People are deeply affected by hurricanes and the damage they cause. Lots of people put aside their feelings about government spending in order to help people get whole again.’’

Wrighton said people in coastal Mississippi still remember that people from the Northeast traveled to the Gulf Coast after Katrina to help out.

“There’s an expectation of reciprocity,” he said. “That’s a norm that (Palazzo) appears to have violated.’’